College Hoops Alert

by Rich

Just a quick heads-up, but if you care about college basketball at all, you might want to check out the Jimmy V Classic on The Worldwide Leader tonight. Two great matchups in Madison Square Garden featuring three of the most hyped freshmen in the country:

At 7:00 Eastern, Kansas State takes on Notre Dame. Actually, the game just started, but still...if you're reading this, flip over and check it out The Irish haven't beaten anybody impressive, but they're a solid Big East team. KSU's appeal pretty much starts and ends with frosh Michael Beasley. I'm looking forward to seeing this guy play for the first time. Stats-wise, he's a monster. Beasley comes in averaging over 26 points and 15 rebounds, and apparently he is that good. We shall see.

The second half of the doubleheader features USC taking on Memphis. Both teams feature big-name freshmen of their own, as Hype Monster O.J. Mayo runs the show for the Trojans opposite Tigers point Derrick Rose. Both guys are posting big numbers so far in the young season; here's how they stack up:

(PPG/RPG/APG)

Mayo: 21.0/4.9/2.8

Rose: 17.0/5.0/4.3


This should be an interesting matchup, if for no other reason than Memphis is so good (#2 coming in). Their offense is a blast to watch, and it's been described variously as "Princeton on steroids" and "Attack-Attack-Skip-Attack-Attack." Plus, I don't like Mayo. He reeks of the same hype machine arrogance as Sebastian Telfair (although he seems to legitimately be a much better basketball player, and I do respect his unexpected willingness to play defense).

Even if you don't watch for the freshman sensations, consider checking in between games for the annual heartfelt tribute to Jim Valvano, as well as information regarding the V Foundation and their quest to raise money for cancer research. Additional information can be found at the Foundation's website:

http://www.jimmyv.org